Big Picture Science for February 12, 2018 - Bacteria to the Future

Big Picture Science - Bacteria to the Future

Why did the chicken take antibiotics?  To fatten it up and prevent bacterial infection. As a result, industrial farms have become superbug factories, threatening our life-saving antibiotics.

Find out how our wonder drugs became bird feed, and how antibiotic resistant bugs bred on the farm end up on your dinner plate.  A journalist tells the story of the 1950s fad of “acronizing” poultry; the act of dipping it in an antibiotic bath so it can sit longer on a refrigerator shelf.

Plus, some ways we can avoid a post-antibiotic era. The steps one farm took to make their chickens antibiotic free… and resurrecting an old therapy: enlisting viruses to target and destroy multi-drug resistant bacteria.  Set your “phages” to stun.

Guests:

• Maryn McKenna - Investigative journalist who specializes in public health and food policy. Author of “Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats.”
• Ryland Young - Biochemist, head of the Center for Phage Technology at Texas A&M University.

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/bacteria-future

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for February 05, 2018 - Creative Brains

Big Picture Science - Creative Brains

Your cat is smart, but its ability to choreograph a ballet or write computer code isn’t great.  A lot of animals are industrious and clever, but humans are the only animal that is uniquely ingenious and creative.

Neuroscientist David Eagleman and composer Anthony Brandt discuss how human creativity has reshaped the world. Find out what is going on in your brain when you write a novel, paint a watercolor, or build a whatchamacallit in your garage.

But is Homo sapiens’ claim on creativity destined to be short-lived?  Why both Eagleman and Brandt are prepared to step aside when artificial intelligence can do their jobs.

Guests:

• Anthony Brandt – Professor of Composition and Theory, Rice University, and co-author of “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World”
• David Eagleman – Neuroscientist, Stanford University, and co-author, “The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World”

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/creative-brains

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for January 28, 2018 - Skeptic Check: New UFO Evidence

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: New UFO Evidence

It was a shocker of a story, splashed across the New York Times front page: The existence of a five-year long, hidden Pentagon investigation of UFOs.  With one-third of the American public convinced that aliens are visiting Earth, could this study finally provide the proof?

We consider how this story came to light and what the $22 million program has produced.  Does the existence of a secret study mean there’s now decent proof of extraterrestrial craft in our skies?  We take a look at the evidence made public so far.

And why, six years after the study ended, are we learning about it now?

Guests:

• James Oberg - Space journalist, historian and former NASA employee
• James McGaha - Retired Air Force pilot, astronomer and director of the Grasslands Observatory
• Ben Radford - Deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer magazine and a Research Fellow with the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-new-ufo-evidence

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for January 22, 2018 - DIY Spaceflight

Big Picture Science - DIY Spaceflight

ENCORE  For a half-century, space has been the playground of large, government agencies.  While everyone could dream of becoming an astronaut, few could actually do so.

Things have changed.  We hear how a geeky son of immigrant parents incentivized the ground-breaking launch of SpaceShipOne, and spawned the commercial rocket industry.

And while you’re waiting for a ticket to ride, why not build your own satellite to keep tabs on the kids or just check out the back forty?  A CubeSat could be your next basement project.

And the hitherto untold story of how black women mathematicians a half-century ago helped get a man into orbit, and astronauts to the moon.

Guests:

• Margot Lee Shetterly – Author of Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race.
• Simon “Pete” Worden – Chairman of the Breakthrough Prize Foundation and former Center Director of NASA Ames Research Center
• Julian Guthrie – Journalist and author of How to Make a Spaceship: A Band of Renegades, an Epic Race, and the Birth of Private Spaceflight
• Eddie Allison – Head of Aviation Services, Orbital Access
• Sean League – Cofounder and Spacecraft Engineering Director, SpaceFab.US
• John Gruener – Planetary Scientist, NASA Johnson Space Center, Houston
• Takanori Shibata – Chief Senior Research Scientist and Professor, National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology

This encore podcast was first released on 01/30/2017

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/diy-spaceflight

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for January 15, 2018 - Geology is Destiny

Big Picture Science - Geology is Destiny

ENCORE: The record of the rocks is not just the history of Earth; it’s your history too.  Geologists can learn about events going back billions of years that influenced – and even made possible – our present-day existence and shaped our society.

If the last Ice Age had been a bit warmer, the rivers and lakes of the Midwest would have been much farther north and the U.S. might still be a small country of 13 states.  If some Mediterranean islands hadn’t twisted a bit, no roads would have led to Rome.

Geology is big history, and the story is on-going.  Human activity is changing the planet too, and has introduced its own geologic era, the Anthropocene.  Will Earthlings of a hundred million years from now dig up our plastic refuse and study it the way we study dinosaur bones?

Plus, the dodo had the bad luck to inhabit a small island and couldn’t adapt to human predators.  But guess what?  It wasn’t as dumb as you think.

Guests:

• Walter Alvarez – Professor of Geology, University of California, Berkeley, and author of A Most Improbable Journey: A Big History of Our Planet and Ourselves
• David Grinspoon – Senior scientist at the Planetary Science Institute, and author of Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet’s Future
• Eugenia Gold – Instructor, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Stony Brook University

This encore podcast was first released on 01/16/2017

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/are-animals-really-smart

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for January 08, 2018 - Are Animals Really That Smart

Big Picture Science - Are Animals Really That Smart

ENCORE: You own a cat, or is it vice versa?  Family friendly felines have trained their owners to do their bidding.  Thanks to a successful evolutionary adaptation, they rule your house.

Find out how your cat has you wrapped around its paw.  And it’s not the only animal to outwit us.  Primatologist Frans de Waal shares the surprising intellectual capabilities of chimps, elephants, and bats.  In fact, could it be that we’re simply not smart enough to see how smart animals are?

Plus, the discovery of a fossilized dinosaur brain.  Were those lumbering lizards more clever than we thought?

Guests:

• Alex Liu – Paleontologist, University of Cambridge, U.K.
• Abigail Tucker – Author of The Lion in the Living Room: How Housecats Tamed Us and Took Over the World
• Frans de Waal – Primatologist, psychologist, Emory University, and author of Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are?

This encore podcast was first released on 12/12/2016

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/are-animals-really-smart

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for January 01, 2018 - Weather Vain

Big Picture Science - Weather Vain

ENCORE: Everyone talks about the weather but no one does anything about it. Not that they haven’t tried.  History is replete with attempts to control the weather, but we’d settle for an accurate seven-day forecast.

Find out how sophisticated technology might improve accuracy, including predicting the behavior of severe storms.  Plus, the age when “weather forecast” was a laughable idea, but why 19th century rebel scientists pursued it anyway.

Also, a meteorologist who was falsely claimed to have “solved” the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle, and a climate scientist recounts the history of trying to control the weather, and the potential future of geoengineering.

Guests:

• Cliff Mass – Professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington.
• Peter Moore – Author of “The Weather Experiment: The Pioneers Who Sought to See the Future.”
• Steven Miller – Meteorologist, Colorado State University Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere.
• Alan Robock – Meteorologist and climatologist, Department of Environmental Sciences at Rutgers University, IPCC lead author.

This encore podcast was first released on 11/21/2016

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/weather-vain

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for December 25, 2017 - DIY Diagnosis

Big Picture Science - DIY Diagnosis

ENCORE: Got aches and pains?  Critters in the Cretaceous would have been sympathetic.  A new study reveals that painful arthritis plagued a duck-billed dinosaur.  Scientists impressively diagnosed the animal’s condition without a house call by examining its 70 million-year old bones.

The technology we use for health diagnoses are becoming so sophisticated, some people are prompted to bypass doctors and do it themselves.  Meet a man who had his genome sequenced and then had all 70 gigabytes delivered directly to him so that he could gauge his genetic health.

Also, practitioners who are trying to improve cognitive function using a battery and a few wires. Find out the possible risks and benefits of DIY brain stimulation.

Guests:

• Jennifer Anne - Recent graduate, University of Manchester, studies injuries and diseases in dinosaurs.
• Carl Zimmer - Science writer, author.  National correspondent for STAT, an online magazine that reports on the frontiers of science and medicine.  His weekly column “Matter,” appears in the New York Times.
• Peter Simpson-Young - A graduate student at the University of Sydney studying neuroscience.
• Anna Wexler - Neuroethicist and PhD candidate in the History, Anthropology, Science, Technology and Society program at MIT.

This encore podcast was first released on 8/29/2016

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/diy-diagnosis

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for December 18, 2017 - Rerouting... Rerouting

Big Picture Science - Rerouting... Rerouting

Lost your sense of direction?  Blame your GPS. Scientists say that our reliance on dashboard devices is eroding our ability to create cognitive maps and is messing with our minds in general. We don’t even look at landmarks or the landscape anymore.  We’ve become no more than interfaces between our GPS and our steering wheels.

But in other ways, GPS can spark a new appreciation of the physical world. A real-time flyover app reveals the stunning geological features otherwise invisible from our window seat.

And sensitive electronic sensors let us see where the wild things are and where they go.  Learn how scientists put belts on jellyfish and produce maps that reveal the surprising routes taken by various species – from a single wolf, a group of phytoplankton, or a float of crocodiles.

Plus, one man is not ready to say goodbye to the traditional map.  Find out why this cartographer insists on paper maps, not digital apps.

Guests:

• Julia Frankenstein – Cognitive scientist, Darmstadt Technical University, Germany
• Greg Milner – Journalist, author of “Pinpoint: How GPS is Changing Technology, Culture, and our Minds”
• Amy Myrbo – Earth scientist, University of Minnesota
• Oliver Uberti – Graphic artist and former senior design editor at National Geographic
• James Cheshire – Geographer, University College London.  Co-author, along with Oliver Uberti, of “Where The Animals Go: Tracking Wildlife with Technology in 50 Maps and Graphics.”
• Tom Hedberg – Mapmaker and publisher at Hedberg Maps in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/rerouting-rerouting

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for December 11, 2017 - With All Our Mites

Big Picture Science - With All Our Mites

ENCORE:  You are not alone.  You can’t see ‘em, but your face is a festival of face mites. They’ve   evolved with us for millennia.  And a new study finds that hundreds of different tiny spiders, beetles, and – our favorite - book lice make your home theirs.  But before you go bonkers with the disinfectant, consider: eradicating these critters may do more harm than good.  Some are such close evolutionary partners with humans that they keep us healthy and can even reveal something about our ancestry.

But then there are bed bugs.  Pests without redemption.  However, their newly-sequenced genome may help us end their nightly nuisances.  And of course some microscopic critters are deadly.  So when it comes to bugs: when do we accommodate and when do we attack?

Guests:
Michelle Trautwein – Curator of entomology, California Academy of Sciences
Matt Bertone –  Entomologist, North Carolina State University
Joshua Benoit -- Insect molecular biologist, University of Cincinnati
Thomas McDade – Biological anthropologist, Northwestern University

This encore podcast was first released on 2/15/2016

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/all-our-mites

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for December 04, 2017 - Air Apparent

Big Picture Science - Air Apparent

Whether you yawn, gasp, sniff, snore, or sigh, you’re availing yourself of our very special atmosphere.   It’s easy to take this invisible chemical cocktail for granted, but it’s not only essential to your existence: it unites you and every other life form on the planet, dead or alive.  The next breath you take likely includes molecules exhaled by Julius Caesar or Eleanor Roosevelt.

And for some animals, air is an information superhighway.  Dogs navigate with their noses.  Their sniffing snouts help them to identify their owners, detect trace amounts of drugs, and even sense some diseases.  Find out what a dog’s nose knows, and why no amount of bathing and dousing in perfume can mask your personal smelliness.

Plus, why your own schnoz is key to not only enjoying a fine Bordeaux, but to survival of our species.

Guests:

• Sam Kean – Science writer, author of “Caesar’s Last Breath: Decoding the Secrets of the Air Around Us”
• Alexandra Horowitz – Dog cognition researcher, Barnard College, author of “Being A Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell”
• Rachel Herz – Cognitive neuroscientist, Brown University, author of “Why You Eat What You Eat,” and “The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell”
• Ken Givich – Microbiologist, Guittard Chocolate company

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/air-apparent

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for November 27, 2017 - Time Travel Agents

Big Picture Science - Time Travel Agents

ENCORE: Hey, let’s meet last week for coffee.  Okay, we can’t meet in the past … yet.  But could it be only a matter of time before we can?  In an attempt to defy the grandfather paradox, scientists try sending a photon back in time to destroy itself.

Also, find out how teleportation allows particles to instantaneously skip through space-time and why sending humans wouldn’t violate the laws of physics.

But before you pack your bags for that instantaneous trip to Paris, we need to understand the nature of time.  A physicist offers a testable theory and ponders how it bears on free will.

Plus, feel as if time comes to a standstill when you’re standing in line?  Tricks for altering your perception of time while you wait.  Some businesses already use them on you.

Guests:

• Richard Muller – Physicist, University of California Berkeley, author of “Now: The Physics of Time”
• Seth Lloyd – Professor of quantum mechanical engineering, M.I.T.
• Emma Bentley – contributor
• David Andrews – Author of, “Why Does the Other Line Always Move Faster?”

This encore podcast was first released on 10/17/2016

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/time-travel-agents

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for November 20, 2017 - Wonder Women

Big Picture Science - Wonder Women

We’re hearing about harassment of, and barriers to, women seeking careers in politics and entertainment. But what about science? Science is supposed to be uniquely merit-based and objective. And yet the data say otherwise. A new study reveals widespread harassment of women of color in space science.

We look at the role that a hostile work environment plays in keeping women from pursuing scientific careers. While more women than ever are holding jobs in science, the percentage in tech and computer science has flattened out or even dropped.  A memo from a software engineer at an Internet giant claims it’s because female brains aren’t suited for tech. Find out what the science says.

Plus, women staring down discrimination. One woman’s reaction to her guidance counselor’s suggestion that she skip calculus and have babies. And SACNAS, the organization changing the face of science for Latina and Native American women.

Guests:

• Jill Tarter - Astronomer, founding member of the SETI Institute, and member of the SETI Institute Board of Trustees.  She is the subject of a biography by writer Sarah Scoles: “Making Contact: Jill Tarter and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence.”
• Angela Saini – Journalist and author of “Inferior: How Science Got Women Wrong”
• Kathryn Clancy – Associate professor of anthropology, University of Illinois
• Antonia Franco – Executive director, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS)

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/wonder-women

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for November 13, 2017 - Skeptic Check: Nibiru! (Again!)

Big Picture Science - Skeptic Check: Nibiru! (Again!)

Will your calendar entry for November 19th  be your last? Some people say yes, predicting a catastrophic collision between Earth and planet Nibiru on that date and the end of the world.  But it won’t happen, because this hypothesized rogue world doesn’t exist. Nibiru’s malevolent disruptions have been foretold many times, most dramatically in 2012 and three times so far in 2017.  But this year NASA issued a rare public assurance that doomsday was not in the offing.

Find out why the agency decided to speak out. Meanwhile, hoaxes and alarmist stories from the 19th century demonstrate that we have a long history of being susceptible to hooey.

Also, an astronomer who doesn’t believe that Nibiru is hiding in the outer Solar System, but that Planet X is.

Guests:

• David Morrison – Astronomer and space scientist, NASA Ames Research Center
• Robert E. Bartholomew – Medical sociologist at Botany College, Auckland, New Zealand, and author of “A Colorful History of Popular Delusions”
• Michael Brown – Astronomer at the California Institute of Technology

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/skeptic-check-nibiru-again

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.

Big Picture Science for November 06, 2017 - DNA: Nature's Hard Drive

Big Picture Science - DNA: Nature's Hard Drive

The biotech tool CRISPR lets us do more than shuffle genes.  Researchers have embedded an animated GIF into a living organism’s DNA, proving that the molecule is a great repository for information.  This has encouraged speculation that DNA could be used by aliens to send messages.

Meanwhile, nature has seized on this powerful storage system in surprising ways.  Scientists have learned that the 98% of our genome – once dismissed as “junk” – contains valuable genetic treasure.
Find out what project ENCODE is learning about the “dark genome.”

Plus, how viruses became the original stealth coders, inserting their DNA into ancient bacteria and eventually leading to the development of CRISPR technology.  Discover the potential of this powerful tool, from curing disease to making pig organs transplant-friendly, and the possible dark side of quick-and-easy gene editing.

Guests:

• Paul Davies - Arizona State University and director of the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science
• Yin Shen - Assistant professor, Department of Neurology, Institute for Human Genetics, University of California – San Francisco, member of ENCODE team
• Sam Sternberg - Assistant professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Columbia University, and co-author of “A Crack in Creation: Gene Editing and the Unthinkable Power to Control Evolution”
• Hank Greely - Director, Center for Law and the Biosciences; Chair of the Steering Committee of the Center for Biomedical Ethics; and Director, Stanford Program in Neuroscience and Society

Download podcast at - http://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/dna-natures-hard-drive

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/, and be sure to check out Blog Picture Science, the companion blog to the radio show.